Orgeron making his case for full-time gig

LOS ANGELES -- They say that the best baseball trades are the ones that are never made, and if you took a poll of current USC Trojans players on whether they would like to trade interim coach Ed Orgeron for another coach, right now the answer would be a resounding “No.”

Then again, if Orgeron's current momentum continues the rest of the season, the question becomes whether USC athletic director Pat Haden is willing to make that trade.

Steve Dykes/Getty ImagesUSC is 3-1 since interim coach Ed Orgeron took over for Lane Kiffin. What does Orgeron have to do to remove the interim title?

It's possible that the next Trojans coach will be a big-time name, and it might take a person of that stature to turn USC players' heads to soften the blow of perhaps losing a coach they love and respect.

Consider if the Trojans converted two field goals and won the game at Notre Dame, it would have propelled Orgeron’s current candidacy for the permanent USC coaching position into more serious discussion than it is today.

Standing on the victorious Trojans sideline at Oregon State’s Reser Stadium during and after the Trojans upset the Beavers, 31-14, one could only marvel at how unified these Trojans are as opposed to a month ago. Unquestionably, Haden knows that Orgeron is the main man responsible for the turnaround.

Also, make no mistake about it, Haden understands the current Trojans roster not only has proven it will lay it all out on the line for Orgeron but look to him as a father figure.

Some Trojans players, however, are also realistic about their interim coach’s future.

When asked about Orgeron in the middle of a wild celebration on the Reser Stadium artificial turf on Friday night, strong safety Dion Bailey put things into stone-cold analysis.

“If Coach O isn’t the head coach here, he will be a head coach somewhere else,” Bailey said. “But we love Coach O.”

Bailey’s comment makes one take a step back and pause.

Just how uncomfortable might it sound to the Trojans family to hear a press conference in December welcoming Orgeron as the new coach at another institution, especially if he guides the Men of Troy into a respectable bowl game?

Currently the thought of Orgeron at any place other than USC leaves many Trojans fans in a state of distress.

As attractive as Orgeron is becoming as a Trojans coaching candidate, Haden will do the right thing and let the season play out -- and he should. There is no telling what will happen the rest of the way, but if things play out the way fans hope, Haden will have one huge decision to make. Or will he?

Maybe no matter what Orgeron does short of going to the Rose Bowl, Haden wants a complete break from the previous coaching regime and his own man, which includes a coach and personality that knocks the nation on its collective ears. Certainly someone with the prestige of Jon Gruden would fit that design.

Haden, the starting quarterback on the Trojans' 1974 national championship team, is currently surveying the big fish out there in the vast coaching ocean. Then he’ll weigh the pros and cons of each legitimate candidate and take his time. He might look at Orgeron's body of work and see how the other "all-star" candidates compare.